D.C. Council passes bill legalizing same-sex marriage

By GottaLaff

Great news:

The measure allowing gays and lesbians to marry in the city is approved 11-2 and will be sent to Mayor Adrian Fenty, who is expected to sign it before Christmas. The bill will become law next spring if, as expected, it survives a 30-day congressional review process.

"We are on the verge of history," council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), the lead sponsor of the bill, told about 350 same-sex marriage supporters at a pre-vote rally Monday night in Shaw. "For the world to see gays and lesbian couples equal to straight couples in the nation's capital, that is an important message."

And what a wonderful message it is.

Yes, now two people can love each other, express their commitment, and vow a lifetime of devotion to one another without the indignity of punishment. And they say this isn't a progressive nation.

Will it be "We the People" or "We the Corporations"?

By GottaLaff

Your Daily Dose of BuzzFlash, courtesy of my pal, Mark Karlin:

[...] [A] good place to start would be with the legal enshrinement in the late 1800s of a concept called "corporate personhood." In essence, this means a business institution has the same -- indeed, currently enhanced -- legal rights as individual American citizens.

Thom Hartmann outlined this brilliantly in his under-appreciated book of a few years back, "Unequal Protection."

As noted in a description of "Unequal Protection":

[...]

As a result, the largest transnational corporations fill a role today that has historically been filled by kings. They control most of the world's wealth and exert power over the lives of most of the world's citizens. Their CEOs are unapproachable and live lives of nearly unimaginable wealth and luxury. They've become the rudder that steers the ship of much human experience, and they're steering it by their prime value--growth and profit and any expense--a value that has become destructive for life on Earth. This new feudalism was not what our Founders--Federalists and Democratic Republicans alike--envisioned for America.

[...] Backed with huge war chests and legal funds, corporations are actually able to fix the system to where they have greater legal rights and legislative impact than people.

[...] It's very abstract for most people to get their arms around this concept, but we are going to have to choose between the interests of corporations and the interests of the American people. [...]

Will it be "We the People" or "We the Corporations"?

You can read the rest here.

I've heard Thom Hartmann on this topic many times. Thank you, Mark Karlin, for writing this one and bringing attention to Hartmann's wonderful work.

Guantanamo Open After January 2010?

By GottaLaff

There seems to be news breaking today about various torture-and/or-detainee-related items. Now here's one more. But please remember, it's not only about torture, it's about our so-called legal system (read: military commissions).

Via Spencer Ackerman:

[...] I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten more attention, so here goes again. Pentagon General Counsel Jeh Johnson suggested to the Senate Armed Services Committee today that the difficulties inherent in bringing legal charges against (or deciding on preventive detention for) about 220 detainees at Guantanamo Bay means that some continued detention past President Obama’s January 2010 deadline for closing the detention facility was likely, “whether at Guantanamo or somewhere else.” That sounded like the first concession from a senior administration official that Guantanamo Bay wouldn’t definitely be shuttered by the deadline.

[...] I’m still seeking clarification for whether Johnson is speaking for the administration here [...]

Meanwhile, Lara Jakes of the Associated Press reports — I hope I can blog this — that after today’s hearing, Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the chairman of the committee, remarked, “What we’re focusing on is the procedures that would be used wherever they’re tried, whether they keep Gitmo open or closed.”

Bear with me. I've only just begun to fight, as they say, for those who badly need support. I may even show up with Lt. Col. Wingard on a major progressive radio station in L.A. soon. Stay tuned...

Video- India Decriminalizes Homosexuality

Video via CSpan Junkie.